The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1887-06-16
THE HUMAN NAV.
A Few Pretty Stories About
Mans Storage Capacity.
Men With Ravenous Appetites and the
Stomach of an Ostrich.

Men With Ravenous Appetites and the
Stomach of an Ostrich
Elizabeth Charlotte, the Duchess of
Orleans, writing under the date Of De-
cember Q, 17is, says: "Thc late King,
Mons. the Dauphin, and the Due dc
Berri were terrible eaters. l have often
seen the King cat four plates of different
kinds of soup, whole pheasant, a
partridge, a dish of salad, two thick
slices Of ham, mutton favored with gar
lie, a platcful of pastry, and finish his
repast with fruit and hard boiled eggs"
There was good old German from
Wurtcmberg where My Lord Hamlet at
tended the university, who had fine fac
ulty for storing away provcndcr. His
case is we'll attcstcd. For a wager he
would cat whole sheep or a whole pig,
or put out of sight bushcl of cherries,
ston;s and all. He lived until he was
about 80 years age, greater portion
of the time exhibiting the popularity
of his appetite, which, to say tho least,
must have been very eccentric one.
Thus, he would chew glass, earthen-
ware and flint into small fragments. He
had an especial preference for cater
pillars, mice and birds, and when these
were not procurable he would content
himself with mineral substances.
Once he put down his "maw and
gulf" pen, the ink, and the sand
pouncc, and he would have goboled
the inkstand, too, had he not
been restrained. Taylor, the water
poet, tells OF Nicholas Wood, of the
County of Kent, in England, who
was tolerable good trcncherman. On
one occasion he got away with whole
lhecp; at another time with several
rabbits; at third with three dozen
pigeons-wcl grown pigeons, not
squads; again, with eighteen yards of
black puddings, and on two other
occasions sixty pounds of cherries and
three pecks of damsons. DR.. Copeland,
in speaking of two children who had
wonderful appctites, the youngest,
,eve years old, being the worst, said
"The quantity of food devoured by her
was astonishing. Every thing that
could be laid hold of, even in its raw
state, was seized up almost greedily.
Among other articles an uncookcd rab-
bit, half a pound Of candies and some
outer were taken at ono time. The
mother stated that the little girl, who
was apparently in good health other
wise, took more food, if she could
possibly obtain it, than tho rest of her
family, consisting of six besides her
elf.n
A tr1c over hundred years ago a
London youth ate FIVE pounds of shoul-
/ der of lamb and two quarts of green
peas in fifty minutes; and Polish SOL
dier who was presented at the Court Of
5axony, succeeded in one day in getting
outside of twenty pounds of beef and
half a roast calf with the appropriate fix
ings. When George III was king, ,
watchmaker's apprentice, nineteen years
of age, in thr-c quarters of an hour de
voured leg of pork weighing 81,
pounds and a proportionatc quantity o
peas pudding, washing all down with
pint of brandy, taken in two lots. TIL,
tall Nick Davenport the actor, is know
to have eaten scvcn-pound turkey at
single sitting. Instances of depravct
appetite are numerous, and men hav
been known to swallow fire, swords, spi
degs, flies, toads, serpcnts, cotton, hair
clay, chalk, flint, musket ball
and earthenware. One man coult
swallow billiard balls and gol,
watches. In the New York medica
Journal for 1882 a record is made of
man who could swallow clasp knive
with impunity. One day he overdid tn
business by swallowing fourteen, and
killed him, which well it might. /
1870, in England, two men of Wiltshir
wagered with each other as to whic
could consume the greatest quantity Q
food in the shortest space of time. On
Of them blottcd from existence 81
pounds and a half of rabbit, a loaf 9
bread and two pounls of cheese in
quarter of an hour, and he was 5
pleased with the appreciation hcrecclve
from the bystanders that he fnishcd O.
with bccf-stcak, pint and half c
gin and half pint of brandy. = Goo
Housekccpcr.